D&D 5E Why Eldritch Blast only targets creatures

[Fralex]

Eldritch blast can only target creatures, which can seem a little weird since the description makes it sound like a destructive beam of magical force that damages whatever it hits. I don't foresee any significant game balance problems with allowing the spell to work on inanimate objects, but if you're looking for an in-world justification for the way it works, here's an interpretation I came up with:

Eldritch blast is more like a short-lived curse than a weaponized burst of magic. The energy beam itself does not cause damage; it’s more like a laser sight on a gun that tells the curse which creature to target. The curse instantaneously causes its victims to generate an uncontrollable surge of magical energy, “shocking” themselves with force as if they had tried to cast a spell but it backfired horribly (see also: mishaps in teleportation and using a spell scroll too advanced for you).
Eldritch blast harms creatures but not objects for the same reason a virus can only harm living things; the damage comes from the creature’s own biological processes being turned against it. Or, in the case of undead and constructs, the sustained magical processes that animate them.

I like this take because it fits well with the general witchiness of the warlock class. Blasting your enemies with bolts of power is for sorcerers. Warlock magic is more dark and insidious.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I'd like you to be involved in (re)writing the next printing of the PHB, please.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

I could buy this interpretation if the cantrip did literally any other kind of energy damage other than force damage. But the very nature of force damage is inherently kinetic. It is not associated with a curse or bodily processes. Magic missile does not deal damage because it targets tissues or cancels out living energy or biological processes, it is a solid projectile that is effective because of the impact and force it imparts upon contact with its target. Shield does not work because it somehow weakens the attack, but creates a physical barrier that resists force, which is why it cancels magic missile.

But, very creative attempt to explain it.

 

[Lanliss]

I could buy this interpretation if the cantrip did literally any other kind of energy damage other than force damage. But the very nature of force damage is inherently kinetic. It is not associated with a curse or bodily processes. Magic missile does not deal damage because it targets tissues or cancels out living energy or biological processes, it is a solid projectile that is effective because of the impact and force it imparts upon contact with its target. Shield does not work because it somehow weakens the attack, but creates a physical barrier that resists force, which is why it cancels magic missile.

But, very creative attempt to explain it.

I am not a doctor, nor do I have any experience with biology beyond a basic High school level understanding, so pardon if I am wrong. Don't some people have conditions that cause their body to bruise itself, through tensing muscles too hard or something like that? I do not think Force has to be an inherently outside force, just something that damages in a similar way to Bludgeoning.

 

[Savage Wombat]

If force damage were brute force it would be bludgeoning. There's clearly something more going on here.

Disintegrate is force damage as well, correct?

 

[Lanliss]

If force damage were brute force it would be bludgeoning. There's clearly something more going on here.

Disintegrate is force damage as well, correct?

Possibly. Maybe force is more of a "separation of the atoms" type thing. That seems to make a little bit of sense, right?

 

[Leatherhead]

It deals damage to creatures because it's Force Damage. For some reason, only high level (5+) spells can deal force damage to objects.

In my mind, force damage is part of the "Magic is the Physics of the D&D world" angle. With Force representing "Elemental Magic." As to why low level force spells only effect creatures? I would assume that's because creatures have Ki (and presumably, because Ki is the magic of living bodies or something like that, objects don't). Which would mean that high level spells are either powerful enough to temporarily imbue the targeted object with Ki, or amass enough free-standing magical energy in one area that it doesn't matter if the target has Ki or not.

Kind of weird to go into another classes description to find the reason why magic knows what a creature is, but it's something to work with at least.

 

[flametitan]

Possibly. Maybe force is more of a "separation of the atoms" type thing. That seems to make a little bit of sense, right?

I seem to remember hearing second hand that the devs considered this to be how force damage worked.

So starting with a "splitting of the atoms" perspective is probably the right direction to go.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

If force damage were brute force it would be bludgeoning. There's clearly something more going on here.

Disintegrate is force damage as well, correct?

Yes, it is definitely more than bludgeoning, and yes, disintegrate does force damage. But the way I picture the difference between something like bludgeoning, piercing, or what have you with force damage is similar to the difference between a bullet shot from a gun and a projectile shot from a rail gun, or perhaps a grain of sand that strikes the International Space Station. The kinetic energy it imparts is so great that it is in a different class.

I am not a doctor, nor do I have any experience with biology beyond a basic High school level understanding, so pardon if I am wrong. Don't some people have conditions that cause their body to bruise itself, through tensing muscles too hard or something like that? I do not think Force has to be an inherently outside force, just something that damages in a similar way to Bludgeoning.

Yes, forces exist all around us and within us. In this way Bludgeoning is a kind a force, and an argument could be made for Piercing or Slashing damage as forceful as well. But what separates these things from Force as an energy type is the magnitude of the kinetic energy. Force damage from magic missile is not just concussive, it is such without anything of mass to transfer that kinetic energy (as a Bludgeoning damage needs a hammer to transfer force into an object, thereby causing damage) and does not require a medium through which to do so (as sonic/thunder damage needs a medium of air or water to travel through).

 

[Lanliss]

Yes, it is definitely more than bludgeoning, and yes, disintegrate does force damage. But the way I picture the difference between something like bludgeoning, piercing, or what have you with force damage is similar to the difference between a bullet shot from a gun and a projectile shot from a rail gun, or perhaps a grain of sand that strikes the International Space Station. The kinetic energy it imparts is so great that it is in a different class.



Yes, forces exist all around us and within us. In this way Bludgeoning is a kind a force, and an argument could be made for Piercing or Slashing damage as forceful as well. But what separates these things from Force as an energy type is the magnitude of the kinetic energy. Force damage from magic missile is not just concussive, it is such without anything of mass to transfer that kinetic energy (as a Bludgeoning damage needs a hammer to transfer force) and does not require a medium through which to do so (as sonic/thunder damage needs a medium of air or water to travel through).

Maybe an atom shaking frequency? That seems to align well enough with all of the given examples, and Shield can simply be said to counter the particular frequency used in MM.